Premonition
by Kyouryoku Senshi
Summary: Based on the "What if season 11 was a dream/vision?" speculation. Takes place shortly after IWTB. (Because if 11 didn't happen, 10 didn't happen either in my mind).
1. Chapter 1

Two little lines on a pregnancy test. Morning sickness. It was all very familiar despite its impossibility.

Mulder leaving yet again. "Just come back alive."

"I need to tell you something...it's about your son. About who his father is."

The sound of Scully's heartbeat reverberated loudly in her ears. No.

She couldn't will herself to speak.

"The smoking man..." the voice faded out.

No. He was killed in New Mexico...the bombing. There was no way he could have survived.

Running, lots of it. An old factory. Gunshots, several of them.

"I'm asking you to let him go."

A car crash.

"He knows that you love him."

William.

More running. More Gunshots.

"He's gone, Scully."

No.

"He shot him...he shot me."

Her body went cold.

It was all too familiar. Mulder was losing himself again.

A downward spiral.

"William...William was an experiment, Mulder. I was never a mother to him...he wasn't-"

A deafening silence.

"What am I now if I'm not a father?"

"You are a father."

She brought his hand to the small swell of her abdomen. To explain the unexplainable.

Sobbing.

"That's impossible."

"I know...it's more than impossible."

Suddenly she felt herself drowning...searching. "William!"

"Scully!" Mulder's terrified cry was muffled.

Her chest became heavy with the need for oxygen.

Another thought struck her. The baby. Their baby.

She flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to reach the surface to no avail. NO!


	2. Chapter 2

Scully's eyes flew open and she gasped for air.

"Scully!" came Mulder's familiar voice.

She jumped up, surveying her surroundings until she realized she was in the bedroom of their home.

Only it was different.

Mulder was at her side, taking her hand. "Shhh, Scully...it's okay, breathe."

"The baby, Mulder. William...William is gone."

Mulder reached to smooth a piece of hair from her clammy skin. He looked at her with concerned loving eyes.

"Oh Honey, it's okay. What baby? William is fine. We have to believe that. You just had a nightmare."

"No," she breathed. "He's gone and we're having a baby. Another child," her eyes pleaded with him.

She felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach as he looked back at her with worried eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said as she moved to feel for the small bump.

Her hand, however, came to rest on a flat surface.

They never found William and there was no baby, she realized as she looked back into the face of her younger Mulder.

"You've been out for about fifteen hours. A bad flu," Mulder continued to explain as he felt her head.

"Do you know what the date is?"

Her blank look seemed to be answer enough.

"It's January fifth, two thousand nine. You work at Our Lady of Sorrows hospital."

Scully stared back at him for a moment, letting it all sink in. It was all a dream? But it was so vivid, she could recall every detail with impunity. They never separated, there was no virus, William was still out there and there was no miracle baby. Did William have powers? It couldn't be, Jeffrey Spender had assured her that he was normal after the magnetite injection. That the magnetite would take his powers away. Part of her was relieved and yet she couldn't help the overwhelming sadness that remained.

Her silence was obviously disconcerting to him, so he reached and took her hand in his own. "Everything is fine. It's going to be okay. You should eat...I can make some eggs or waffles...or,"

"I'm not hungry," she said suddenly, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Scully, work with me here," he begged as he gently smoothed her hands with his fingers.

She sighed when she realized he wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Okay, some waffles and tea," she whispered, drinking in the sight of him.

He nodded as he gently pulled away, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead before retreating downstairs.

Scully looked around for a moment, before heaving herself from the bed in resignation, willing her legs to cooperate.

Making her way into the bathroom, she gasped as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her long strawberry hair another confirmation of Mulder's words, that everything was a dream. Their rejoining the FBI, their cases, everything.

Another thought came into her mind. William would be about seven years old, almost eight now. He was still out there.

In her dream, she recalled the knowledge William having to endure several experiments as he grew older. But it was just a dream, right? He wasn't part of any experiment that the smoking man was involved in. He wasn't out there fighting for his life. Was he still William or did he go by another name like Jackson in her dreams?

She had never left Mulder over his depression and obsessive tendencies. They never joined the FBI. They were still here, in Farrs Corner, VA. Mulder was recently exonerated after that case he helped them with.

She felt partial relief, yet a sadness remained. A void that couldn't be filled. She had never given it much thought after everything with William and it was quite a reach, but her heart couldn't help but ache at the idea of a second child.

In her dream, she and Mulder were in their fifties. The baby was an impossibility. A true miracle in every definition. She hadn't been sure how to feel about it at first, but part of her had already loved the fictional child that had been growing inside of her. And she got to share it with Mulder and saw the way his eyes lit up at the implication.

Her eyes filled with tears as she pressed her hand against her barren womb. The guilt she felt giving away their son never escaped her. While Mulder assured her she did what was best for his safety, she couldn't help but feel that she took his chance to be a father away from him.

Scully blinked away her tears as she heard Mulder's footsteps ascend the stairs.

"Scully," he called out as she exited the bathroom. He stopped once he saw her, realizing she had been crying, yet tried to smile. If there was anything he had learned from his years being with Dana Scully, it was not to push her to talk when she wasn't ready.

"Food is ready," he said. "You okay?"

Scully nodded. "Yeah, I'll uh...be right there."


	3. Chapter 3

A few minutes later, Mulder saw Scully in a fresh change of clothes as she descended the stairs. He still couldn't help but wonder what her dream had been about. She had been calling for William and saying something was impossible...maybe the second child she had dreamed of?

Mulder set the plates on the table as she opened the curtains, something he only recently started being able to do since he didn't have to hide away. The way the sunlight filtered into the room was also refreshing.

A moment later, Scully slowly made her way into the kitchen area and sank into one of the chairs. Once he set a mug of steaming hot tea in front of her, Mulder took the one opposite her and they sat in silence for a few minutes. She had to admit his cooking skills were becoming impressive.

She took several bites of food and he was grateful she at least had an appetite. "So," Mulder started. "Did you want to talk about it?" He pressed gently.

Placing her fork down, she hesitated. Mulder reached out and took her hand, urging her to open up to him, yet not forcing the subject. The dream was quickly fading as most do, but she recalled the important details as horrifying and shocking as they were. She would need to write down as much as she could remember as she had a feeling it might be important later.

"I...it's a lot," she began to explain.

"I'm listening," he urged. Something in his voice reminded her of her dream Mulder. Dream Mulder had been through quite a lot during and after their separation, but ultimately he had become quite selfless. There had been some resignation about in regards to "the darkness".

"In my dream...we had separated," she explained as he watched him stiffen slightly. "We'd been having a lot of issues and...I left," she looked down. "But we eventually found our way back to one another. We went back to the FBI."

She told him as much as she could recall about the cases they had been on. It got a little difficult when she talked about her mom having passed away.

Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered Mulder dying as a result of the virus, but she told him about the virus and that in her dream the smoking man was responsible.

Mulder couldn't help but chuckle. "Scully, that man was blown to pieces. He couldn't possibly have survived."

She hoped he was right.

"And Monica...she was working for him, but I think she was also working against him..like a double agent. But I couldn't help but feel betrayed."

Mulder shook his head. "I didn't know Agent Reyes for very long, but I know you do and I know you trust her. That's enough for me to believe that she wouldn't betray us."

Scully nodded. She told him about the smoking man, about how he claimed to be William's father. In her heart, she had always feared that there was an outside force responsible for her miraculous pregnancy. That the smoking man had done something to her when she woke up in strange clothing even though she was thoroughly examined after that trip.

She feared that she had been used as an incubator...she had feared it during her dream as they investigated a Doctor Goldman and children with supernatural powers that he was seemingly keeping hostage while he performed an array of experiments. Was William like those children? Fighting for his life?

"Scully, you can't do this to yourself. We can't do this. You gave him up to protect him. To keep him safe. We have to believe he is okay, wherever he is and no matter, what he's our son."

"But what if he isn't?" she pressed, knowing that this very subject was one that led to the dissolution of their relationship in her dream. "What if I'm meant to find him now, to stop this."

Mulder sucked in a breath as he watched her wipe at her eyes.

"There's another thing," she continued before he could say anything.

"In my dream, I found out that I was pregnant once again, against all odds. We had just found our way back to one another and conceived a child. I got to share it with you," she said with a tearful smile.

Mulder's eyes widened as he sucked in a breath.

"Scully…"

"I was so desperately afraid and confused, we both were in shock. It was impossible, more so than the first time. But...I was happy. I...I wanted the baby."

Mulder moved to pull Scully into his arms as she began to cry. "Oh Scully," he whispered against her hair.


End file.
